Only Jesus.<\/p>\n
\u2013No one has been to Heaven except the One who came from there.<\/em>\u00a0 John 3:13.\u00a0 How clear is that?\u00a0 He is the One who knows.<\/p>\n \u2013No one can come to God the Father except through Jesus.\u00a0<\/em> John 14:6.\u00a0 How clear is that?\u00a0 He is our Mediator.<\/p>\n \u2013No one can know God unless Jesus reveals Him to them<\/em>.\u00a0 Matthew 11:27.\u00a0 How clear is that?\u00a0 He is the Revealer.<\/p>\n \u2013There is no other name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.<\/em> Only Jesus.\u00a0 Acts 4:12.\u00a0 How clear is that?\u00a0 He is our Savior.<\/p>\n \u2013Jesus said He was given authority over all mankind.<\/em>\u00a0 John 3:35; 13:3; 17:2 and Matthew 28:18.\u00a0 How clear is that?\u00a0 He is Lord.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s an outline that sums it up for me.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n It got me out of bed in the middle of the night recently.\u00a0 Use it if you can and if the Lord leads\u2026<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2013One.<\/strong>\u00a0There is only One who has come from Heaven\u2013and He alone is our\u00a0AUTHORITY<\/strong>\u00a0on matters of Heaven and eternity.\u00a0 John 3:13<\/p>\n That\u2019s why even the Father told people, \u201cListen to Him!\u201d\u00a0 (Luke 9:35)<\/p>\n \u2013Two.<\/strong>\u00a0 There is only One who has gone to the cross and made atonement for our sins\u2013and He alone is our\u00a0SAVIOR<\/strong>.\u00a0 John 3:16<\/p>\n That\u2019s why the Holy Spirit draws people to Him.\u00a0 He is the Door (John 10).<\/p>\n \u2013Three<\/strong>.\u00a0 There is only One who has risen from the dead and ascended to the Father\u2013and He alone is our\u00a0LORD.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Acts 2:32-36.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why every knee shall bow, every tongue confess.\u00a0 He alone is Lord.<\/p>\n Jesus is our Authority on things of life and the afterlife, our Savior from our sins and from the world, and Lord of Heaven and earth.\u00a0 He alone is worthy of all worship.<\/p>\n Jesus.\u00a0 It all comes down to Jesus.\u00a0 He is the focus of all God has revealed.<\/p>\n \u201cJesus Christ is everything God has to say about Himself.\u201d \u2013John Bisagno<\/p>\n This is where people miss it.<\/strong><\/p>\n They speak of God and think that\u2019s enough.\u00a0 If they preach about God, what could be wrong with that?\u00a0 If they tell people to turn to God, they\u2019re solid.<\/p>\n But they\u2019re wrong.<\/p>\n Lots of people believe in God, they say, but have no use for Jesus.<\/p>\n It\u2019s all about Jesus, friend.\u00a0 People have a thousand concepts of God, and have even made gods in their own image.\u00a0 They have no trouble with you telling them to \u201cbelieve in God,\u201d \u201cturn to God\u201d and \u201cworship God.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s when you bring Jesus into the conversation that they head for the exits.<\/p>\n No one in the New Testament was persecuted for talking about God.\u00a0 It was the Jesus-talk that got them into trouble.<\/p>\n \u2013In Acts 4,<\/strong>\u00a0the disciples were \u201cproclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead,\u201d and were arrested. When put on trial, they announced, \u201cit is by the name of Jesus the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, that this man was healed.\u201d\u00a0 The authorities conferred and agreed to demand that \u201cthey speak no more to any man in that name.\u201d<\/p>\n Had they preached the typical \u201cGod-only\u201d message in a thousand churches today, they would have been safe.<\/p>\n Beware of choosing safe over faithful.<\/p>\n \u2013In Acts 5<\/strong>, they are arrested. The authorities say, \u201cWe gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 After the believers were flogged, they went on their way, \u201crejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.\u201d\u00a0 And they kept right on preaching Jesus.<\/p>\n Had they chosen to leave Jesus out of it, as is done in a thousand churches today, they could have spared themselves the suffering.<\/p>\n \u2013In Acts 8<\/strong>, Philip joins himself to the Ethiopian who was puzzled by what he was reading in Scripture.\u00a0 \u201cAnd beginning from this scripture, he preached Jesus to him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013In Acts 9<\/strong>, when Saul of Tarsus is knocked off his high horse, he stares into the brightest light he has ever seen and he hears a voice coming from it. \u201cSaul, Saul, why do you persecute me?\u201d\u00a0 And then, \u201cI am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.\u201d<\/p>\n When Saul took action against the believers, Jesus took it personally.<\/p>\n Anyone see a trend here?\u00a0 It\u2019s all about Jesus.<\/p>\n To stay safe in ministry, leave Jesus out of it.\u00a0 To our shame, a great portion of our congregations would never notice if you did.\u00a0 But the ones who truly know the Father will notice and will care.\u00a0 And at judgement, those who heard you but never knew Jesus will rise up and witness against you.<\/p>\n Tell them of Jesus, friend.<\/strong>\u00a0 Tell them He is the Authority on spiritual matters and heavenly things.\u00a0 Tell them He is the only Savior who can save us from our sins.\u00a0 Tell them He is Lord, for now and forever.<\/p>\n Tell them that a day will come when every eye will see Him, every knee bow before Him, and every tongue will cry out that Jesus is Lord!\u00a0 And that they would do well to get started now.<\/p>\n A pastor friend held a funeral for a lovely young mother who died unexpectedly. \u00a0She left a grieving husband and a small child.\u00a0 At the funeral, friend after friend rose to tell of her good works. But not a soul mentioned her faith or her relationship with Jesus.\u00a0 Afterward, a family member approached.\u00a0 \u201cPastor, did you know her?\u201d\u00a0 No, he had never met her.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, did you know she was not a believer?\u201d\u00a0 No, he had no way of knowing.<\/p>\n \u201cYou did a good job of skirting the issue,\u201d\u00a0the family member\u00a0said.\u00a0 \u201cThat makes this even more tragic.\u201d<\/p>\n The pastor\u2019s wife told me this and added, \u201cMy own\u00a0family did not go to church.\u00a0 Our parents never took us.\u00a0\u00a0All our church friends just assumed we were Christians.\u00a0 They never asked.\u201d<\/p>\n Let us not assume everyone around us knows the Lord Jesus Christ, friend.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go tell them.<\/p>\n Tell them of Jesus.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Only Jesus. \u2013No one has been to Heaven except the One who came from there.\u00a0 John 3:13.\u00a0 How clear is that?\u00a0 He is the One who knows. \u2013No one can come to God the Father except through Jesus.\u00a0 John 14:6.\u00a0 … Continue reading